Sec. 307. Legislative procedure.
   (a)   Public Meetings. All meetings and legislative sessions of the County Council shall be open to the public.
   (b)   Enacting Clause. The style of the enacting clause for all ordinances of the County Council shall be: "Be it enacted by the County Council of Anne Arundel County, Maryland."
   (c)   Titles. Each ordinance enacted by the County Council shall embrace but one subject and no ordinance or resolution or any section thereof shall be revised or amended by reference to its title or section only.
   (d)   Ordinances and Resolutions. The County Council shall proceed only by ordinance or resolution which shall be introduced in written or printed form. This requirement shall not apply to procedural motions, the election of a presiding officer and motions for adjournment. In addition to other acts required by law or by specific provision of this Charter to be done by ordinance, those acts of the County Council shall be done by ordinance which adopt or amend a law, create new bureaus or divisions of any department or office of the County government, which provide for a fine or other penalty or establish a rule or regulation for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed, which levy taxes, which grant, renew or extend a franchise, which set the rate charged for sewer and water services, which fix the compensation of any officer or employee of the County, which make an appropriation, which authorize the borrowing of money, which convey or lease, or authorize the conveyance or lease of any lands of the County. A resolution shall mean a measure adopted by the County Council, not subject to executive veto, which is of a temporary or administrative nature such as the making of appointments, the declaration of testimonials, the direction of officers and employees of the County Council, requests for information from the executive branch and such other actions which this Charter requires to be taken by resolution.
   (e)   Procedure for Passing Ordinances.
      (1)   A proposed ordinance may be introduced by bill by any member of the Council on any legislative session-day of the Council. Not later than the next calendar day following the introduction of a bill the Chair of the Council shall schedule a public hearing thereon which shall not be less than seven days after its introduction; providing that the Council may reject any ordinance on it introduction without a hearing by a vote of five members. The hearing may, but need not be, held on a legislative session-day and may be adjourned from time to time. After the public hearing as herein provided, a bill may be finally passed on a legislative session-day with or without amendment, except, that if any bill, other than one that levies a tax or assessment to fund the annual budget and appropriation ordinance, is amended before final passage and the amendment constitutes a change of substance, the bill shall not be passed until it is reprinted or reproduced as amended and a hearing shall be set thereon. A change of zoning by amendment to a comprehensive zoning ordinance, that is not requested by application to or proposed by the Office of Planning and Zoning prior to introduction of the comprehensive zoning ordinance, may not be added by amendment to the bill until one or more signs are posted on the subject property in the manner provided in the County Code.
      (2)   The provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable to emergency ordinances and the Annual Budget and Appropriation Ordinance of Anne Arundel County as defined in Section 709 of this Charter.
   (f)   Procedure for Passing Emergency Ordinances. Upon introduction by bill of an emergency ordinance the Chair shall schedule a public hearing thereon which shall not be less than three days after its introduction. The public hearing may but need not be held on a legislative session- day and may be adjourned from time to time. After public hearing the bill may be passed with or without amendment on a legislative session-day by an affirmative vote of five members of the County Council.
   (g)   Votes Required. No ordinance shall become law unless it be passed by the affirmative vote of not less than four members of the County Council, or such greater number as may elsewhere be required in this Charter, and on its final passage the yeas and nays shall be recorded in the Journal.
   (h)   Publication of County Laws. On the introduction of any bill, an electronic copy thereof and notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be posted by the Administrative Officer to the County Council as soon as practicable on the County Council website. Printed copies of the bill shall be made available to the public and to the press. Every copy of each bill shall bear the name of the member of the Council introducing it and the date it was introduced for the consideration of the Council; and no bill, unless it be an emergency bill, shall be passed before the seventh calendar day after such date. Each bill shall receive such publication as may from time to time be required by law.
   (i)   Effective Date of Ordinances. Except as provided in Section 710 of this Charter for the Annual Budget and Appropriation Ordinance and ordinances levying taxes or assessments to support the budget, and except for any ordinance related to transfers of appropriations under Charter Section 711, supplementary appropriations under Charter Section 712, and amendments of the capital budget under Charter Section 716, any ordinance enacted by the County Council shall take effect forty-five days after it becomes law, unless declared to be effective on a later date. Ordinances related to transfers of appropriations under Charter Section 711, supplementary appropriations under Charter Section 712, and amendments of the capital budget under Charter Section 716 shall take effect from the date they become law. If an ordinance is an emergency ordinance as defined in Section 208(d) it shall take effect from the date it becomes law. The County Council may declare an ordinance passed at an annual legislative session or a monthly legislative session-day to be an emergency ordinance necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and welfare, and it shall take effect from the date it becomes law. An emergency ordinance under subsection 208(d) or this subsection may not levy taxes, create revenue, or grant a franchise or special privilege, or abolish or create any office or change any salary, term or duty of any officer or create any vested right or interest or create or expand any Capital Project, or increase the funding thereof (except in cases where the increase in funding is required solely to meet cost escalation and does not affect the scope of the project as originally budgeted).
   (j)   Executive Veto and Failure of Bills. Upon the passage of any ordinance by the County Council, with the exception only of such measures as may in this Charter be made expressly exempt from the executive veto, the same shall be presented within five (5) days (exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays of the State or Nation) to the County Executive for approval or disapproval, and, within ten (10) days after such presentation, the County Executive shall return any such ordinance to the County Council with the County Executive’s approval endorsed thereon or with a statement in writing of the County Executive’s reasons for not approving the same. Upon approval by the County Executive any such ordinance shall become law. Any such ordinance presented to the County Executive and returned with the County Executive’s veto may be reconsidered by the County Council. The County Executive’s objections shall be entered upon the Journal of the Council, and, not later than at its next legislative session-day, the County Council may reconsider the enactment thereof notwithstanding the executive veto, and, if five (5) members of the Council vote in the affirmative, the ordinance shall become law. Whenever the County Executive shall fail to return any such ordinance within ten (10) days after the date of its presentation to the County Executive, or returns the ordinance unsigned without a written statement of approval or disapproval, the ordinance shall become law as of the tenth day after presentation, and the Administrative Officer to the County Council shall forthwith record the fact of such failure in the Journal. The County Executive may disapprove of one or more parts of a comprehensive zoning ordinance while approving others, and the part or parts approved shall become law, and the parts disapproved shall be returned to the Council as prescribed and shall not take effect unless passed over the County Executive’s veto as set forth herein. Any bill not passed within ninety-five days after its introduction, or prior to November in a councilmanic election year, shall fail.
(Bill No. 56-70; Bill No. 73-72; Bill No. 72-82; Res. No. 69-86; Res. No. 33-02; Res. No. 39-12; Res. 47-12; Res. No. 7-16; Res. No. 48-17; Res. 21-22; Res. No. 22-22; Res. No. 30-22)
Editor's notes
The 2012 amendment added the provision clarifying that, when a bill is passed by the County Council but returned unsigned by the County Executive without a statement of approval or disapproval, the bill becomes law on the 10th day after presentation of the bill to the County Executive. The 2012 amendment also limited the County Executive's line item veto authority to comprehensive zoning ordinances.
Resolution No. 22-22 amended subsection (i) but incorrectly referenced subsection (e) as the Charter provision that describes “emergency legislative session”. The reprint includes the correct reference to subsection (d).